Swimming with Orcas video

An OW swimmer in New Zealand had 3 orcas swim with her, and someone on shore grabbed their drone and got amazing video of it. This link has an article, edited video with an interview with the swimmer and the unedited video.

She saw them under her, got out of the water, changed her mind, got back in and finished her swim... don’t think I would have had the nerve to do that.

Impressed she got back in the water. While humans tend not to be targeted by orcas, she herself noted that because she was wearing a wetsuit, she could have been mistaken for a seal. I wonder if that's what drew them to her, and then on closer inspection, they realized she wasn't a seal, but they could still have been curious about this strange non-seal creature.

Just speculation by yours truly, a non-seal, non-expert.

Got a chuckle out of the comment by the expert that orcas are "very large dolphins."

I can’t help but be wary (okay, downright scared) of getting up close and personal with big, carnivorous, wild animals. But I would prefer to see an orca swim under me than a great white shark. Orcas are intelligent enough to check out potential prey without their teeth. And only captive orcas have attacked and killed people. But, still, no. Too much risk.

* The medium orca carries a plastic in its mouth; apparently they are playing with it, therefore they are "strolling", not hunting
* The adult orca touches the swimmers feet out of curiosity
* NZ orcas eat sharks and rays; you shouldn't try this in Canada/US west coast, where they eat seals (I assume they mean that a swimmer might be more easily mistaken with a potential prey)
* Attacks by orcas are unknown, but they point out that interaction with orcas is rare; you are never risk-free, as wild animals are prone to aggressive behaviour (during social interaction), even with dolphins

I wouldn't dare being close to an animal which could, out of curiosity, tear off my leg or head butt me with a hammer of 3000 kg.